P.T. PC Port Developer Steps Back After Being Called a Nazi, a Fraud, and Getting Death Threats
It’s not every day that a fan manages to bring back a game that players have wanted to see return for more than a decade. P.T., the famous horror demo from Hideo Kojima, has remained a favorite among horror fans, and one young developer managed to bring it to PC in a way that few thought possible.
Laurian Xavier, also known as Lorean Xavier, is a 21-year-old developer who spent years working on a native PC version of P.T. and released it two weeks ago.
Instead of simply using an emulator or creating another remake, Xavier worked with the original PS4 Fox Engine code to build a version that could run directly on Windows and Linux.
P.T. PC Port Developer Says Hate and Threats Pushed Them to Step Back From the Project
The project was written in C++ and included several modern features, such as ray tracing, VR support, and higher frame rates. The goal was to bring the original experience to PC while keeping it as close as possible to the PS4 version.
The work even caught the attention of Hideo Kojima himself, who publicly acknowledged and shared the project. For a fan developer who had spent years working on the game, this was a big moment. However, things took a disappointing turn after the project gained attention.
Despite offering the PC port for free, Xavier faced what was described as toxic behavior from parts of the gaming community. Instead of receiving only support for the work, the developer also had to deal with negative reactions and demands from some people online.
Xavier has now said that after version 1.0.8, they will spend much less time on the project. In a long statement, Xavier explained that the attention came with a lot of hate. They say people called them a Nazi, a racist, and a fraud, and claimed the project was just a repackaged emulator. Xavier says the repository is public so anyone can check what was actually built.
In addition, Xavier says people tried to get their donation pages and payment accounts shut down, and that their Ko-fi account was suspended. “I’ve also received personal threats, including death threats,” Xavier wrote, “all of this surrounding a free video game port.”
Xavier also said they are unemployed and do not have a team to help. When some people compared them to Kojima, who has “decades of experience, professional teams, and an entire company” behind him, Xavier’s answer was simple: “I’m one person.”
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The developer admitted to getting angry at times and said some replies were “unnecessarily aggressive.” But Xavier also said they have no regrets: “I don’t regret creating P.T. PC Port. I’m proud of it.”
It’s also worth noting that the project is not completely dead, but its future is unclear. Xavier says they are stepping back from active community talk because of the backlash, but may still release small fixes and updates for the P.T. PC port, with no promises. With the P.T. preservation project at roughly 97% complete, Xavier has moved most of their focus to their next big reverse-engineering project: Silent Hill 3. As more information becomes available, we’ll make sure to let you guys know here at MP1st.
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